That rear wing of our car is very telling. I didn't expect to see this at all. With Ferrari being better in speed traps while running so much rear wing shows the high aero efficiency design I wrote about after roll-out, they really reduced the drag wherever they could. Also shows PU isn't that far on peak power from Merc.

They went for longer wheelbase and new diffuser design. It's not surprising to read they have problems in the rear.

Well, reading those articles, it seems this car has loads of rear downforce in theory, with high rake set up. But, from whatever reason, it's not really working for them yet so they drop the rear end down a bit and loose some downforce there. This way, they loose front downforce from lifting the front wing up (due to lower rear ride height) as well. Some updates might solve this, or a bit different suspension set-up, we'll have to wait to see that.

Sounds promising to me. Little bit like Mercedes last year. They were struggling in the beginning too and then find the right set-up and was OK then.

I think aero efficiency was our biggest flaw last year... it left us vulnerable to being overtaken during the races like in Russia, Spain, USA, etc...
This problems is gone this year and one might argue that we have the most aero efficient car (seeing our top speeds in Australia while still running quite a lot angle on our rear wing).
I'm very happy that we've fixed that issue since it was really deflating seeing how easily would Mercedes steam past us during critical moments in the race.
All we have to do now is optimize the car and extract the full potential from the longer wheelbase concept and we should be good to mount up a serious challenge for the championship.
Must say after all the doom & gloom from the preseason testing the actual image doesn't look at all bad... I really think that with clever development Ferrari might even become the leading car from a performance standpoint at some point this year.
With the longer wheelbase it's obvious that our team will be able to explore a lot of new ways compared to last year's car since there is more space in which you can put your aero stuff and optimize the airflow in order to increase your diffuser's efficiency.

Now let's talk about Ferrari that, in reality, has impressed in Melbourne despite having shown, on a medium-high track, all the weaknesses of a still very unique project with great development opportunities (reported by Seb and also from sources inside the team). The SF71H has confirmed the feelings that I reported in the final test analysis in Barcelona (that's why it's wrong to say that the analysis of the tests are useless.

It will be interesting to understand if the level of understanding of the car on the aerodynamic balancing front will be improved: the choice of a rather extreme philosophy (high efficiency, long wheelbase and high rake, indeed very high) is certainly a valid choice in theory, but rather complicated in practice; in my opinion, in fact, the SF71H did not generate enough load at the rear, probably because it was still not possible to seal the bottom at best (remember the 2017 banned by the FIA?), and this entailed a slight compromise "downward"to the front, making the car more balanced but certainly slower in the corners (although the car is still excellent on the tyres).

Ferrari intervened in Melbourne by lowering the rear and then "forcing" the diffuser to work, with obvious loss of load resulting from the reduction of the rake angle; they brought a new diffuser (with little tricks) and then tried a more loaded front wing, which was not confirmed by the pilots after FP. All this is summarized in a car characterized by high top speed (thanks to the great work on aerodynamic efficiency and a front "exhaust" to balance the rear) and an obvious understeer at the entrance. Despide of everything, Ferrari still showed excellent traction out of the corners and excellent work on the tires, using a loaded rear wing and proving that, from a suspensive standpoint, the SF71H is in place. A remarkable leap in quality on the front of the Power Unit: the new Ferrari engine seems to have improved greatly on the front of maximum power, thanks to a reduction in compression (through an increase in tolerances) and an increase in turbo pressure (through a mechanism of wastegate vent under acceleration thrust). At the moment, reliability is also promising, unlike Mercedes, which has suffered a lot of "hot air" both with Bottas and with Hamilton (Pu in protection in the last laps), and with Stroll. However, this is still not an excellent job on the consumption front (for which we expect Shell's developments) that does not allow Ferrari to increase the incidence of the wings (Mercedes's strong point) and to resolve aerodynamic pressure losses more quickly, waiting for upgrades planned for China and later GPs (Ferrari count on having an already faster car than Mercedes for the Baku GP).

Ferrari has opted for a project with a wider degree of development, exploiting.

WHAT WE WILL SEE IN BAHRAIN?

The Sakhir circuit is a medium-low load circuit that requires a lot of "mechanical" traction and a perfect use of the traction tires which, due to the temperatures and longitudinal stresses, are considerably under stress. In 2017 we witnessed a great victory by Sebastian Vettel taking advantage of the strength of the SF70H, tire consumption, and a "debacle" Mercedes from that point of view. Can it be repeated in 2018? Honestly not, since Mercedes seems to have improved on the tires front, but Ferrari will be stronger than in Australia thanks to the low load and the excellent management of the roofing, even if not enough, except for surprises, to worry Mercedes.

From all news and info I've gathered it's rather clear that the SF71H is going to suit some circuits even better than last year and some even worse (the spectrum will widen), and it's basicly going to be opposite compared to the last season. Every circuit with at least one very long straight the car is going to be very competitive. Circuits with mid- and slower corners is going to be worse. Circuits with a lot of stop and go is going to be OK as long there will be a long straight to claw back. All this in normal weather conditions of course and without mechanical and technical issues. Bahrain is mainly a stop and go circuit with a twisty 2nd sector. I both hope and think its' going to be one of the better races in terms of points this season. As for the rest of the calendar it's easy to see where the SF71H is going to be competitive and where it's going to struggle compared to Merc and RB. The team was lucky to walk away with 40 points from Australia. The main thing is for Kimi to give Bottas a match then we have a shot at the WCC.

The Easter climate does not slow down the work in the Reparto Corse: if in Bahrain you will see only one SF71H adapted to the characteristics of the track, the expected fund will arrive in Shanghai, thanks to which the Red should pull out her ...

Ferrari's victory in the Australian GP has come unexpectedly and as such for the men of the Cavallino it is worth more, but in the Reparto Corse there has never been a lack of awareness that the Mercedes W09, beaten by Sebastian Vettel in Melbourne, is still ahead of to the Red.

The festive atmosphere does not slow down the feverish work of preparing the two back-to-back trips, Bahrain and China, which will rattle off one after the other immediately after Easter.

The Sports Management technicians, led by Mattia Binotto, had the opportunity to analyze the data collected in Melbourne to deliberate the changes that will arrive ready only for the Chinese GP, while in Sakhir the SF71H should show itself in the configuration seen in Oceania, with the necessary adaptations of the machine to the circuit of the Arab emirate.

The new fund, thanks to which the aerodynamic instabilities in braking and in the cornering of the curve should have disappeared, which have reduced the performances of the Red in the winter tests and the opening GP, is expected in Shanghai where the Circus will transfer immediately after the trip to Bahrain and will be sent directly from Maranello to be mounted on the cars of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen.

The lack of load in the rear (at least compared to the data that had emerged from wind tunnel tests and CFD) in Australia has forced the technicians of the Cavallino to use a more discharged front wing in an attempt to balance the SF71H in Melbourne, giving up to a part of the Red potential.

The study of flows in particular in the two channels that were created on the sides of the transmission and the tightening of the fund that is now significantly longer than last year should allow the Red to show its real value.

Sebastian Vettel, despite the great success of Melbourne (he was on his 100th podium in F1), asked the engineers a more reactive car ...
"We have great potential, but the car does not respond just as I would like, it slips into some points and I'm not very happy with how it enters the curve. A question of feeling, we are used to driving on problems, but in tracks like this if you have confidence you can make the difference and for now it is not so ".

The Easter climate does not slow down the work in the Reparto Corse: if in Bahrain you will see only one SF71H adapted to the characteristics of the track, the expected fund will arrive in Shanghai, thanks to which the Red should pull out her ...

Ferrari's victory in the Australian GP has come unexpectedly and as such for the men of the Cavallino it is worth more, but in the Reparto Corse there has never been a lack of awareness that the Mercedes W09, beaten by Sebastian Vettel in Melbourne, is still ahead of to the Red.

The festive atmosphere does not slow down the feverish work of preparing the two back-to-back trips, Bahrain and China, which will rattle off one after the other immediately after Easter.

The Sports Management technicians, led by Mattia Binotto, had the opportunity to analyze the data collected in Melbourne to deliberate the changes that will arrive ready only for the Chinese GP, while in Sakhir the SF71H should show itself in the configuration seen in Oceania, with the necessary adaptations of the machine to the circuit of the Arab emirate.

The new fund, thanks to which the aerodynamic instabilities in braking and in the cornering of the curve should have disappeared, which have reduced the performances of the Red in the winter tests and the opening GP, is expected in Shanghai where the Circus will transfer immediately after the trip to Bahrain and will be sent directly from Maranello to be mounted on the cars of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen.

The lack of load in the rear (at least compared to the data that had emerged from wind tunnel tests and CFD) in Australia has forced the technicians of the Cavallino to use a more discharged front wing in an attempt to balance the SF71H in Melbourne, giving up to a part of the Red potential.

The study of flows in particular in the two channels that were created on the sides of the transmission and the tightening of the fund that is now significantly longer than last year should allow the Red to show its real value.

Sebastian Vettel, despite the great success of Melbourne (he was on his 100th podium in F1), asked the engineers a more reactive car ...
"We have great potential, but the car does not respond just as I would like, it slips into some points and I'm not very happy with how it enters the curve. A question of feeling, we are used to driving on problems, but in tracks like this if you have confidence you can make the difference and for now it is not so ".

Now let's talk about Ferrari that, in reality, has impressed in Melbourne despite having shown, on a medium-high track, all the weaknesses of a still very unique project with great development opportunities (reported by Seb and also from sources inside the team). The SF71H has confirmed the feelings that I reported in the final test analysis in Barcelona (that's why it's wrong to say that the analysis of the tests are useless.

It will be interesting to understand if the level of understanding of the car on the aerodynamic balancing front will be improved: the choice of a rather extreme philosophy (high efficiency, long wheelbase and high rake, indeed very high) is certainly a valid choice in theory, but rather complicated in practice; in my opinion, in fact, the SF71H did not generate enough load at the rear, probably because it was still not possible to seal the bottom at best (remember the 2017 banned by the FIA?), and this entailed a slight compromise "downward"to the front, making the car more balanced but certainly slower in the corners (although the car is still excellent on the tyres).

Ferrari intervened in Melbourne by lowering the rear and then "forcing" the diffuser to work, with obvious loss of load resulting from the reduction of the rake angle; they brought a new diffuser (with little tricks) and then tried a more loaded front wing, which was not confirmed by the pilots after FP. All this is summarized in a car characterized by high top speed (thanks to the great work on aerodynamic efficiency and a front "exhaust" to balance the rear) and an obvious understeer at the entrance. Despide of everything, Ferrari still showed excellent traction out of the corners and excellent work on the tires, using a loaded rear wing and proving that, from a suspensive standpoint, the SF71H is in place. A remarkable leap in quality on the front of the Power Unit: the new Ferrari engine seems to have improved greatly on the front of maximum power, thanks to a reduction in compression (through an increase in tolerances) and an increase in turbo pressure (through a mechanism of wastegate vent under acceleration thrust). At the moment, reliability is also promising, unlike Mercedes, which has suffered a lot of "hot air" both with Bottas and with Hamilton (Pu in protection in the last laps), and with Stroll. However, this is still not an excellent job on the consumption front (for which we expect Shell's developments) that does not allow Ferrari to increase the incidence of the wings (Mercedes's strong point) and to resolve aerodynamic pressure losses more quickly, waiting for upgrades planned for China and later GPs (Ferrari count on having an already faster car than Mercedes for the Baku GP).

Ferrari has opted for a project with a wider degree of development, exploiting.

WHAT WE WILL SEE IN BAHRAIN?

The Sakhir circuit is a medium-low load circuit that requires a lot of "mechanical" traction and a perfect use of the traction tires which, due to the temperatures and longitudinal stresses, are considerably under stress. In 2017 we witnessed a great victory by Sebastian Vettel taking advantage of the strength of the SF70H, tire consumption, and a "debacle" Mercedes from that point of view. Can it be repeated in 2018? Honestly not, since Mercedes seems to have improved on the tires front, but Ferrari will be stronger than in Australia thanks to the low load and the excellent management of the roofing, even if not enough, except for surprises, to worry Mercedes.

Seb or Kimi needs to put the "Pedal to the metal!" Use every ounce of HP their engine has to get on pole, then who's on first needs their teammate to keep him there best he can. Win #2 for Ferrari! Halo and all!

Our FS70H is A car that will evolve throughout the season its not a set and forget fi car in its creation and design the scope for evoling and developing the car has been incorporated it will present different features as the year rolls foward the approach of ferrari and the car will be on a track to track basis this will make it quite interesting and mercedes very nervous not really knowing what to expect f1 is always full of surprises one way or another but watching the car evolve should be inspiring a great piece of ferrari engineering and design.

Our FS70H is A car that will evolve throughout the season its not a set and forget fi car in its creation and design the scope for evoling and developing the car has been incorporated it will present different features as the year rolls foward the approach of ferrari and the car will be on a track to track basis this will make it quite interesting and mercedes very nervous not really knowing what to expect f1 is always full of surprises one way or another but watching the car evolve should be inspiring a great piece of ferrari engineering and design.

The Sakhir circuit is a medium-low load circuit that requires a lot of "mechanical" traction and a perfect use of the traction tires which, due to the temperatures and longitudinal stresses, are considerably under stress. In 2017 we witnessed a great victory by Sebastian Vettel taking advantage of the strength of the SF70H, tire consumption, and a "debacle" Mercedes from that point of view. Can it be repeated in 2018? Honestly not, since Mercedes seems to have improved on the tires front, but Ferrari will be stronger than in Australia thanks to the low load and the excellent management of the roofing, even if not enough, except for surprises, to worry Mercedes.

that's how i read it.....we had no chance in OZ either and look how it turned out....with a bit of luck

until we get the new floor and deffuser in China (that's suppose to fix the balance and set up issues we have) we'll be in damage limitation

I agree. Vettel has been saying that he's not comfortable yet with the car. That doesn't mean it cannot be fast when the car gives him the confidence he needs. It's a new, unrefined car and yet they won the race. I say the season is still too early to assume we already lost.

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I have yet to meet anyone quite so stubborn as myself and animated by this overpowering passion that leaves me no time for thought or anything else. I have, in fact, no interest in life outside racing cars.

Only a Ferrari 1-2 would have been a better result in Melbourne and the team proved they were THERE in their strategic reaction that got them the points! I have
every confidence that they will build on this and that our car will develop and improve measurably from race to race, especially during the early part of the season. We shouldn't
be so over-confident as to forget that our opponents will also evolve and develop as well, we've just got to do a better job and stay competitive better than we did
last year. For now I'm all smiles that there's 'money in the bank' at this early stage. FORZA FERRARI!! Keep up the good spirits and fine work ragazzi!!!

I agree. Vettel has been saying that he's not comfortable yet with the car. That doesn't mean it cannot be fast when the car gives him the confidence he needs. It's a new, unrefined car and yet they won the race. I say the season is still too early to assume we already lost.

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Maybe it was just poor setup for Seb, our car has a good front end, the only thing it was lacking was some rear traction (downforce). Which is course why the drivers were a little bit struggling with the acceleration out of slow corners, they didnt manage to get on the power as quickly, early as Mercedes. Maybe in Bahrain all will be back to normal, we will have more time for finding the right setup I think.

Maybe it was just poor setup for Seb, our car has a good front end, the only thing it was lacking was some rear traction (downforce). Which is course why the drivers were a little bit struggling with the acceleration out of slow corners, they didnt manage to get on the power as quickly, early as Mercedes. Maybe in Bahrain all will be back to normal, we will have more time for finding the right setup I think.

I think the problem is more in the breaking ,the entrance in the corner and in the middle. In the exit we are good.

Nice, this car shows massive potential in my opinion. Remember how the Merc was unstable at the beginning of the season but soon Merc fixed those problems and managed to bring the car to almost perfection? I think that's the exact same thing we are going to do this year with our car.

The Finn enjoyed a strong start to the season in Australia, qualifying on the front row and being Lewis Hamilton's main challenger for much of the race before Sebastian Vettel's staggered pitstop strategy helped leapfrog him from third to first.

After Raikkonen struggled at times throughout last season, Scarborough believes that Ferrari's layout at the front of its car explains why the campaign got off to such a strong start in Australia.

"Ferrari, compared to any other front team, have the most conservative front suspension," said Scarborough in the latest episode of the Motorsport Show.

"Other people are playing around with the angles of the suspension with these upper arms, lifting them up for aero reasons, and for geometry reasons.

"Ferrari keep that and that gives them quite a good front end. And for somewhere like Melbourne that was really helping, and for a driver like Kimi Raikkonen that is really important as well, that they have that confidence in the front end.

"There are lots of factors when you make these decisions and certainly it seems to work for Ferrari."

Scarborough goes as far as suggesting that the suspension layout could actually help the team to an advantage over rivals who have gone for more complicated designs.

"It is one of the trump cards for Ferrari and you wonder how that will start to play out with tyres as we go to different sorts of tracks, different temperatures and different compounds," he added.

In the same analysis, Anthony Rowlinson, Editor-in-Chief of F1 Racing, also talks about the back end of the car.

"It's interesting, I think, in the context of what Ferrari haven't done at the front, that Sebastian Vettel to date has not found the grip he wants for the rear," says Rowlinson.